After Islam Makhachev’s convincing victory over Charles Oliveira to win the lightweight title at UFC 280 all signs have pointed towards his next opponent being current featherweight kingpin Alexander Volkanovski, but both fighters now appear to be uncertain as to whether it will go ahead or not.
Volkanovski was the first to cast doubt on the match-up when he wrote to Makhachev last Friday on Twitter if he was still on-board for the clash of champions.
“Are you a man of your word? [Islam Makhachev]? Let’s make it happen!” Volkanovski wrote.
“The second I receive the paper, I will sign it, don’t worry ✏️ enjoy your P4P first spot for now 😉,” Makhachev responded at the time.
Makhachev then went on to suggest that the UFC might be having second thoughts about the match-up.
“@alexvolkanovski just make sure your people convince UFC that you can compete with me. From what I heard, they think you too small 👀.”
A day later Makhachev wrote again about the situation, continuing to pin the blame on the UFC brass for the fact that the fight has not been booked yet.
“I’m not sure what UFC wants, February Australia or March Vegas,” Makhachev wrote. “I honestly don’t care about location and opponent, I never choose opponents. Just send a contract and stop playing games.”
Given that the UFC had Volkanovski fly out to Abu Dhabi for the Makhachev vs. Oliveira fight and even had him get into the Octagon afterwards to face off with the new champion it seems like they were on-board with the idea, but even though it’s only a couple of weeks later it’s clear that both fighters are becoming frustrated with the fact that it’s not official yet.
